Today's Sports

John Hill Jr. took this 9-point buck, his first with a bow, on Sept. 14. He was hunting on his grandmother's farm in western Anderson County. Hill says he is going to mount his prize. Send deer harvest photos to jpherndon@theandersonnews.com.

Anderson County scored 27 unanswered points to turn a close game into a 55-21 romp past visiting Mercer County in Friday night football action.

Leading just 28-21 and appearing to be reeling, Anderson got the break it needed when Tristin Ashburn returned a Mercer fumble to the Titan 4. On the next play, Sam Laytart scored his first varsity touchdown to make it 35-21.

"Doesn't he have a knack for that?" Anderson coach Mark Peach said of Ashburn. "That play was huge."

I never dreamed of throwing a touchdown pass or making a game-saving tackle in the Super Bowl.

I just wanted to kick the game-winning field goal.

Maybe it was because the first time my favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys, made it to the Super Bowl, they came up short. A rookie kicker, Jim O'Brien of the Baltimore Colts – THAT designation is showing my age – split the uprights from 32 yards with only five seconds to play.

DANVILLE – Had the Bearcats known at 7:30 p.m. what they did three hours later last Friday night, Anderson County might still be unbeaten.

Mistakes, many attributable to the possibility that the Bearcats were on the biggest regular-season stage of their careers, cost Anderson dearly in an outing worthy of its billing in the excitement factor.

Anderson County volleyball got right back in the race for the top seed in the 30th District tournament with a big three-set win over visiting Shelby County last Tuesday. The Lady Bearcats prevailed 25-19, 28-26 and 25-15 to improve to 2-1 in district play.

Remember those days when Anderson County and Mercer County was a good old-fashioned knock-down, drag-out fight on the football field?

Through the 1980s and early 1990s it was arguably the biggest game on both teams' schedule in terms of post-season play since they were in the same Class AA district. Win, and chances were that team would have a good seeding in the state playoffs.

Anderson County got its first win of the boys' soccer season last Thursday, when the Bearcats routed visiting Bourbon County, 5-0.

Joe Rose led the Bearcats, scoring three times in the first 25 minutes of action. Garrett Prithcert added a goal while David Simmons also scored off a nice pass from Lucas Best. Dalton Wells also had two assists for the Bearcats.

Bourbon fell to 1-10 on the year.

Anderson was in total control when the match was halted by lightning with 32 minutes to play.